Dave Tompkins :: DVD Library :: IMDb Charts :: Top by Genre :: History

(text-only version)

1.		Schindler's List (1993) Oskar Schindler uses Jews to start a factory in Poland during the war. He witnesses the horrors endured by the Jews, and starts to save them. tt0108052+
2.		Rang De Basanti (2006) A young woman from England comes to India to make a documentary about her grandfather's diary which was written in the 1920s about the Indian Independence with five young men. tt0405508
3.		The Message (1977) Handsomely-mounted historical epic concerns the birth of the tt0074896+
4.		Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (2013)
5.		Das Boot (1981) The claustrophobic world of a WWII German U-boat; boredom, filth, and sheer terror. tt0082096
6.		12 Years a Slave (2013) In the antebellum United States, Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery. tt2024544
7.		Lawrence of Arabia (1962) Epic rumination on a flamboyant and controversial British military figure and his conflicted loyalties during wartime service. tt0056172
8.		Braveheart (1995) William Wallace, a commoner, unites the 13th Century Scots in their battle to overthrow English rule. tt0112573
9.		Michael the Brave (1593)
10.		Montevideo: Taste of a Dream (2010)
11.		The Great Escape (1963) Several hundred Allied POWs plan a mass escape from a German POW camp. tt0057115
12.		Downfall (2004) Traudl Junge (Lara), the final secretary for Adolf Hitler (Ganz), tells of the Nazi dictator's final days in his Berlin bunker at the end of WWII. tt0363163+
13.		Lion of the Desert (1981) In the Fascist Italy Pre-World War II of Benito Mussolini, the cruel General Rodolfo Graziani is directly assigned by Il Dulce to fight in the colonial war in Libya to vanquish the Arab ... tt0081059
14.		Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) In 1948, an American court in occupied Germany tries four Nazi judges for war crimes. tt0055031
15.		The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) A chronicle of the trial of Jeanne d'Arc on charges of heresy, and the efforts of her ecclesiastical jurists to force Jeanne to recant her claims of holy visions. tt0019254
16.		Andrei Rublev (1966) Andreiv Rublev charts the life of the great icon painter through a turbulent period of 15th Century Russian history... tt0060107
17.		Come and See (1985) During WWII, a Belorussian boy is thrust into the atrocities of war, fighting with a hopelessly unequipped Soviet resistance movement against ruthless German forces... tt0091251
18.		The Battle of Algiers (1966) A surprisingly unbiased account of the bloodiest revolution in modern history. tt0058946
19.		Inherit the Wind (1960) Based on a real-life case in 1925, two great lawyers argue the case for and against a science teacher accused of the crime of teaching evolution. tt0053946
20.		Hotel Rwanda (2004) The true-life story of Paul Rusesabagina, a hotel manager who housed over a thousand Tutsi refugees during their struggle against the Hutu militia in Rwanda. tt0395169
21.		The Lion in Winter (1968) 1183 AD: King Henry II's three sons all want to inherit the throne, but he won't commit to a choice. They and his wife variously plot to force him. tt0063227
22.		The Third Half (2012)
23.		Ip Man (2008) A semi-biographical account of Yip Man, the first martial arts master to teach the Chinese martial art of Wing Chun. tt1220719
24.		Gandhi (1982) Biography of Mahatma Gandhi , the lawyer who became the famed leader of the Indian revolts against the British through his philosophy of non-violent protest. tt0083987
25.		The King's Speech (2010) The story of King George VI of Britain, his impromptu ascension to the throne and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch become worthy of it. tt1504320+
26.		The Butterfly's Dream (2013)
27.		Z (1969) Following the murder of a prominent leftist, an investigator tries to uncover the truth while government officials attempt to cover up their roles. tt0065234
28.		The Leopard (1963) The Prince of Salina, a noble aristocrat of impeccable integrity, tries to preserve his family and class amid the tumultuous social upheavals of 1860's Sicily. tt0057091+
29.		Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925)
30.		Becket (1964) An English king comes to terms with his affection for his close friend and confidant, who finds his true honor by observing God's divine will rather than the king's. tt0057877
31.		Patton (1970) The World War II phase of the controversial American general's career is depicted. tt0066206
32.		Intolerance (1916) The story of a poor young woman, separated by prejudice from her husband and baby, is interwoven with tales of intolerance from throughout history. tt0006864
33.		JFK (1991) A New Orleans DA discovers there's more to the Kennedy assassination than the official story. tt0102138+
34.		A Man for All Seasons (1966) The story of Thomas More, who stood up to King Henry VIII when the King rejected the Roman Catholic Church to obtain a divorce and remarriage. tt0060665
35.		Doctor Zhivago (1965) Life of a Russian doctor/poet who, although married, falls for a political activist's wife and experiences hardships during the Bolshevik Revolution. tt0059113+
36.		Battleship Potemkin (1925) A dramatized account of a great Russian naval mutiny and a resulting street demonstration which brought on a police massacre. tt0015648
37.		Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972) In in 16th century, the ruthless and insane Aguirre leads a Spanish expedition in search of El Dorado. tt0068182
38.		All the President's Men (1976) Reporters Woodward and Bernstein uncover the details of the Watergate scandal that leads to President Nixon's resignation. tt0074119
39.		Dallas Buyers Club (2013) In 1985 Dallas, electrician and hustler Ron Woodroof works around the system to help AIDS patients get the medication they need after he is himself diagnosed with the disease. tt0790636
40.		Cinderella Man (2005) The story of James Braddock, a supposedly washed up boxer who came back to become a champion and an inspiration in the 1930s. tt0352248+
41.		In Cold Blood (1967) After a botched robbery results in the brutal murder of a rural family, two drifters elude police, in the end coming to terms with their own mortality and the repercussions of their vile atrocity. tt0061809
42.		Fiddler on the Roof (1971) In pre-revolutionary Russia, a poor Jewish peasant must contend with marrying off his three daughters while antisemitic sentiment threatens his home. tt0067093+
43.		Burnt by the Sun (1994) Russia, 1936: revolutionary hero Colonel Kotov is spending an idyllic summer in his dacha with his young wife and six-year-old daughter Nadia and other assorted family and friends... tt0111579
44.		Glory (1989) Robert Gould Shaw leads the US Civil War's first all-black volunteer company, fighting prejudices of both his own Union army and the Confederates. tt0097441+
45.		The Untouchables (1987) Federal Agent Elliot Ness sets out to take out Al Capone; because of rampant corruption, he assembles a small, hand-picked team. tt0094226
46.		Spartacus (1960) The slave Spartacus leads a violent revolt against the decadent Roman empire. tt0054331+
47.		Kagemusha (1980) When a powerful warlord in medieval Japan dies, a poor thief recruited to impersonate him finds difficulty... tt0080979+
48.		Letters from Iwo Jima (2006) The story of the battle of Iwo Jima between the United States and Imperial Japan during World War II, as told from the perspective of the Japanese who fought it. tt0498380+
49.		Hero (2002) A series of Rashomon-like flashback accounts shape the story of how one man defeated three assassins who sought to murder the most powerful warlord in pre-unified China. tt0299977
50.		Madras Cafe (2013)

Count: 43 / 50

Dave Tompkins :: DVD Library :: IMDb Charts :: Top by Genre :: History

Oskar Schindler uses Jews to start a factory in Poland during the war. He witnesses the horrors endured by the Jews, and starts to save them.

A young woman from England comes to India to make a documentary about her grandfather's diary which was written in the 1920s about the Indian Independence with five young men.

Handsomely-mounted historical epic concerns the birth of the

The claustrophobic world of a WWII German U-boat; boredom, filth, and sheer terror.

In the antebellum United States, Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery.

Epic rumination on a flamboyant and controversial British military figure and his conflicted loyalties during wartime service.

William Wallace, a commoner, unites the 13th Century Scots in their battle to overthrow English rule.

Several hundred Allied POWs plan a mass escape from a German POW camp.

Traudl Junge (Lara), the final secretary for Adolf Hitler (Ganz), tells of the Nazi dictator's final days in his Berlin bunker at the end of WWII.

In the Fascist Italy Pre-World War II of Benito Mussolini, the cruel General Rodolfo Graziani is directly assigned by Il Dulce to fight in the colonial war in Libya to vanquish the Arab ...

In 1948, an American court in occupied Germany tries four Nazi judges for war crimes.

A chronicle of the trial of Jeanne d'Arc on charges of heresy, and the efforts of her ecclesiastical jurists to force Jeanne to recant her claims of holy visions.

Andreiv Rublev charts the life of the great icon painter through a turbulent period of 15th Century Russian history...

During WWII, a Belorussian boy is thrust into the atrocities of war, fighting with a hopelessly unequipped Soviet resistance movement against ruthless German forces...

A surprisingly unbiased account of the bloodiest revolution in modern history.

Based on a real-life case in 1925, two great lawyers argue the case for and against a science teacher accused of the crime of teaching evolution.

The true-life story of Paul Rusesabagina, a hotel manager who housed over a thousand Tutsi refugees during their struggle against the Hutu militia in Rwanda.

1183 AD: King Henry II's three sons all want to inherit the throne, but he won't commit to a choice. They and his wife variously plot to force him.

A semi-biographical account of Yip Man, the first martial arts master to teach the Chinese martial art of Wing Chun.

Biography of Mahatma Gandhi , the lawyer who became the famed leader of the Indian revolts against the British through his philosophy of non-violent protest.

The story of King George VI of Britain, his impromptu ascension to the throne and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch become worthy of it.

Following the murder of a prominent leftist, an investigator tries to uncover the truth while government officials attempt to cover up their roles.

The Prince of Salina, a noble aristocrat of impeccable integrity, tries to preserve his family and class amid the tumultuous social upheavals of 1860's Sicily.

An English king comes to terms with his affection for his close friend and confidant, who finds his true honor by observing God's divine will rather than the king's.

The World War II phase of the controversial American general's career is depicted.

The story of a poor young woman, separated by prejudice from her husband and baby, is interwoven with tales of intolerance from throughout history.

A New Orleans DA discovers there's more to the Kennedy assassination than the official story.

The story of Thomas More, who stood up to King Henry VIII when the King rejected the Roman Catholic Church to obtain a divorce and remarriage.

Life of a Russian doctor/poet who, although married, falls for a political activist's wife and experiences hardships during the Bolshevik Revolution.

A dramatized account of a great Russian naval mutiny and a resulting street demonstration which brought on a police massacre.

In in 16th century, the ruthless and insane Aguirre leads a Spanish expedition in search of El Dorado.

Reporters Woodward and Bernstein uncover the details of the Watergate scandal that leads to President Nixon's resignation.

In 1985 Dallas, electrician and hustler Ron Woodroof works around the system to help AIDS patients get the medication they need after he is himself diagnosed with the disease.

The story of James Braddock, a supposedly washed up boxer who came back to become a champion and an inspiration in the 1930s.

After a botched robbery results in the brutal murder of a rural family, two drifters elude police, in the end coming to terms with their own mortality and the repercussions of their vile atrocity.

In pre-revolutionary Russia, a poor Jewish peasant must contend with marrying off his three daughters while antisemitic sentiment threatens his home.

Russia, 1936: revolutionary hero Colonel Kotov is spending an idyllic summer in his dacha with his young wife and six-year-old daughter Nadia and other assorted family and friends...

Robert Gould Shaw leads the US Civil War's first all-black volunteer company, fighting prejudices of both his own Union army and the Confederates.

Federal Agent Elliot Ness sets out to take out Al Capone; because of rampant corruption, he assembles a small, hand-picked team.

The slave Spartacus leads a violent revolt against the decadent Roman empire.

When a powerful warlord in medieval Japan dies, a poor thief recruited to impersonate him finds difficulty...

The story of the battle of Iwo Jima between the United States and Imperial Japan during World War II, as told from the perspective of the Japanese who fought it.

A series of Rashomon-like flashback accounts shape the story of how one man defeated three assassins who sought to murder the most powerful warlord in pre-unified China.